WAM
is changing formats and moving down the road from its traditional home
at Hunt Valley Inn to a more affordable site at Days
Hotel with a Chili’s restaurant on the premises. Opening day on Thursday
has become an attendance optional Mulligan Round for all events
starting at 2 pm. Win and you are one round deep into that tournament.
Lose and start over Friday with no blemish on your record.

On
Thursday, Jan. 25 through Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007 in Hunt Valley, MD,
BPA will again be hosting 2007 Winter Activation Meeting (WAM V) during the
calm before the storm which is the week before the Super Bowl. The focus
of this four-day event is to provide a gaming convention for the two-player
historical “card-driven” boardgaming
community: players and designers. We offer the following titles as BPA tournament
events with expectation of full laurels to be won: Paths of Glory , Wilderness
War and Twilight
Struggle as featured tournaments. An Open Play and “swiss
open” format will allow gamers a chance to play a favorite
all weekend, or to enter a number of events, even returning to
later rounds of events after failed attempts to win the championship
in others. Other CDWs such as Hannibal, For the People, We
The People, Empire of the Sun and Trimuph of Chaos
will be played in a less formal setting, and should attendance
justify it, tournament status will be granted the winners of those
games as well after the fact. The Open Play match-up system features
GMs matching players of like records as soon as they have an open
time slot to play the game (thus allowing players to fit short
games in between rounds of longer games).

Each participant is asked to pre-register, stating their gaming
preferences, in order to assist us in better planning this event.
The event is designed for experienced players of these games,
but all are welcome.

Location: Days
Hotel, 9615 Deereco Rd., Timonium, MD (near
Baltimore)Schedule: Jan. 26 (Friday 8 am)—Jan. 28 (6:30 pm),
with a Thursday night open gaming session and a mulligan round
for Paths of Glory in the meeting space (which opens at
2 pm)—an invitation to kick off the weekend with some early contests
counting towards tournament play commencing on Friday morning.
We also anticipate that participants will get a few sneak peaks
at a number of new card driven boardgames.GMs: David Dockter, Stuart Tucker and Keith WixsonHosts: David Dockter and Stuart TuckerWeb Sites: BPA (www.boardgamers.org)
and WAM (www.wamconvention.com)

Who is the target audience for the convention?Experienced, competitive, fun, two-player, historical card-based
strategic boardgamers. Who else would commit to playing a game
for 16 hours per day, for five rounds, over three days? Not many.
On the other hand, gamers that appreciate the diversity of the
titles and periods covered, will have a chance to play many different
titles in three and a half days.

Of course, we
encourage any interested boardgamers to attend the convention and give the
games a shot. However, it is expected that players will have a thorough understanding
of the rules for each game that they choose to play. Initial rounds will
match players of similar skills. In each case, the GM is likely to be
playing in their own event. We often also have a few odd multiplayer
late night pick up games.

Why These Games?These games were selected due to interest expressed in the
general gaming community and those that we enjoy hosting and playing.
Five events is a stretch in a three-day conference. However, our
experience shows that, via a sort of controlled chaos we call
Open Play, the GMs can keep people playing with very little downtime.
The shorter games (HRC, WTP, and WNW) allow players to play their
early round games at anytime during the meeting prior to the start
of round 3 for their event. Obviously, participants, as always,
will need to make choices. After losing a game, some players will
choose to move to a new event, while others will continue to play
for the experience. Of course, winning an event championship is
likely to require wins in every round.

Games of Barbarossa to Berlin can be substituted for
rounds of Paths of Glory but ONLY if BOTH players agree.
Paths of Glory will always be the default version should
both players be unable to agree on the game to be played.

Why This Time?Face it, we are experiencing symptoms of withdrawal from our
wonderful experience at WBC in August. We realize that there are
many events in the winter and spring. We have no desire to detract
from those tournaments. However, we wanted to run something over
the winter close to Baltimore’s major airport (for ease of travel
for both drivers and fliers) that would appeal to the WBC “card-shark” gang
without the distraction of competing events. Late January during the lull before
the Super Bowl seems to fit the bill.

Pre-Registration STRONGLY EncouragedAll participants are encouraged to pre-register ($30 for BPA
members, $40 for non-members, received by Jan.
15); those not pre-registering will pay $40 at the door regardless
of BPA affiliation. The price jump reflects our desire to strongly
encourage pre-registration. We will ask pre-registrants to state
their game tourney priorities in order to help us handle any severe
conflicts that we have not anticipated in the schedule below.
Attach a list of your game priorities (rank the games you want
to play) when sending a pre-registration check, payable to BPA,
7766 Valley View Court, Hickory, NC 28602. We will post the names of
pre-registrants on the WAM web site.

Refunds: The WAM pre-registration fee is a discounted
rate extended in exchange for a guarantee to attend. As such,
no refunds are allowed.

LODGING: At
the Days Hotel, BPA has obtained
a very favorable group room rate of $79 per night plus applicable state and
local taxes (currently 13%). To obtain this rate you must identify your affiliation
with the BPA’s WAM gaming
conference and make your reservation before Jan. 6, 2007 (or when our roomblock
sells out, whichever occurs first) at 410-560-1000 weekdays between 8 a.m.
and 7 p.m., Eastern Time. After Jan. 6, reservations will be accepted
on a space or rate available basis.

Alternately,
you may contact Days Hotel, 9615
Deereco Rd, Timonium, MD 21093. Be sure to identify your affiliation with
our group—both to get the best rate
for yourself and to credit our group with your stay. Room options include
one king or two queen size beds. King rate is an additional $10/night.
Room rate includes daily Continental Breakfast served from 6:30-9:30 a.m.
on second floor. Regular weekend rates are $99 per night plus
applicable taxes. (www.dayshoteltimonium.com; directions)
Chili’s restaurant is attached to the hotel and open for lunch and dinner.

Reservations should include:

Arrival & Departure
dates

Estimated Time
of Arrival

Room preference
(single or double, smoking or non-smoking)

Credit card
type to be used for payment including number and expiration date

Open Game = Room available for pickup games
of any sort; at other times on a space-available basis.
Open Play = See GM for early round game pairings any time; play
at least two rounds by Round 3 start time.
Round # = Formal scheduled start time for event’s round. In case
of Open Play events, you may get in the game early and skip to
the next round start time.
All events are swiss events, allowing play in each round if you
are present at the round start time.
The plaque for We The People (WtP) will be awarded to the last
remaining undefeated player.

GENERAL TOURNAMENT
FORMATS:

Swiss Open/Four
or Five Rounds: Each event will run for four
or five rounds (allowing drop-ins for any round). If you want
a top finish, you must participate in all rounds of an event.
We The People will award the top prize to the last remaining
undefeated player.

First Round Seeding: Events will be seeded for the first
round (matching players of similar skills when possible). GMs
will use a combination of previous WBC tournament finishes and
AREA ratings for establishing these first-round matchups (though
the Open Play events will be a bit more free-form). Newcomers
to an event usually will not be matched against experienced tournament
players for the first round. After the first round, players with
similar records continue to match off (much like a single elimination
tournament as long as you win).

Open Play: Players may play their early round games
at any time prior to a formal round start time on the schedule.
All early matchups must be approved onsite by the GM in advance,
and game record sheets must be submitted with the results. Find
Tucker and/or Wixson to request an early matchup.

What happens in case of a BIG turnout? We will be contracting
for a fixed amount of table space. Consequently, we are emphasizing
pre-registration in order to be able to provide enough table space.

What about uneven game preferences? We will NOT turn
players away from the game they want to play. Tie-breaker systems
will be implemented to handle popular events while still completing
each tourney during the weekend.

Prizes: The top finisher in each eligible event will
receive an official BPA plaque. Additionally, the top six places
in each event count toward the BPA’s annual Caesar Award. An event
is eligible only if it draws 16 or more participants.

Rules and Regulations, etc.: All of the rules and regulations
for attending the annual WBC convention will also be in effect
at WAM.

SPECIFIC
GAME FORMATS:We’re using the same formats as used at WBC. All descriptions
can be accessed through this website.
In each case just click on the corresponding link in Event Previews.

Paths
of Glory (GM D Dockter): PoG will use the same
format and rules used at the August WBC tourney. Players
of PoG will notice only two differences from the WBC tourney: a tie is
an allied victory and there will be no peace terms. Players will bid VPs
for side and should take into account these changes.

Twilight
Struggle (GM S Tucker): We will use the Official clarifications
current on the GMT Games website as well as Boardgamegeek and
Consimworld websites. Players will bid VPs for choice of side
in a manner similar to past Hannibal tournaments.

For
The People (GM James Pei): We are using rule version
2.6. FtP will use the campaign game.

Hannibal:
Rome vs. Carthage (GM S Tucker): See “Open
Play” above. Hannibal will use the same format and rules
utilized at the August WBC tourney. Players
may use either version of the rules if they can agree (the default
will be the second edition rules. The web-published second edition
has the advantage of incorporating the clarifications (but adds
about a dozen real changes) and can be obtained at: pages.infinit.net/mykeul/hannibal_rules.htm.

Wilderness
War (GM K Wixson): See “Open Play” above. Wilderness
War will use the same format and rules
used at the August WBC tourney. Wilderness
War will use Annus Mirabilis tournament scenario.
Players will bid VPs for sides.

We
The People (GM S Tucker): See “Open Play"
above. This event has no specific rounds (except the Final slot),
as we expect people will be seeking matchups between their “quick” rounds of play at other events. We will follow closely the rules
that have been in use in recent WBC tourneys for this game. Games
lasting longer than 2.5 hours and in danger of making a player
miss a round of another event will be adjudicated. A comprehensive
Q&A and Errata is found at www.geocities.com/dropded/WeThePeople.html